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Rating: If the ultimate sense of the word 'creation' is to bring into being with absolute freedom—without any limits or censorship of any kind—it is also true that giving order, a form, to the fruit of inventiveness does not always harm the final product or impoverish it. In some cases, even in music, one can indeed affirm the opposite: how many artists owe the success of their work to the intervention of an external "agent" who—with professionalism and, when necessary, detachment—weaves the threads of a discourse that could risk foundering in solipsism? Often, it is the arduous task of the producer—a sometimes overlooked but fundamentally important figure for works of melodic ingenuity. Then, when this singular character—who is often, and mistakenly, relegated to the mere economic sphere of the music discourse—engages in sound experiments himself, so much the better for the cause of art and its outcomes.
"Genius and recklessness": the expression seems to fit well for types like Todd Rundgren. But only if you extend the semantic range of the first term, compelling it into an elementary bifurcation of meaning: as brilliant in giving a definitive shape to the works of others as he is unpredictable, crazy, experimental in beating his own singer-songwriter path. As obsessive in fulfilling his role as supervisor/producer (one for all: the masterpiece of XTC "Skylarking"—for which our man almost came to blows with the equally meticulous, as well as enlightened, Andy Partridge) as he is uncontrollable in the proposition of his untamed eclecticism. This latter disposition is a bit of a double-edged sword: whereas it sometimes—in its more 'glam' outcomes—leads Todd into the depths of a creative anarchy that is difficult to access and enjoy, elsewhere it flows into masterpieces of astounding innovative charge and consequent historical importance.
This is undoubtedly the case of "Something/Anything?" (1972)—a double and unparalleled output from a mind in continuous search of the sensational. A quest that employs all possible means to reach the goal, not least a superhuman attitude that manifests itself—in three of the four phases of the work—in Todd’s multi-instrumentalism. Listing the genres covered risks the "grocery list" effect: only a madman could manage to juxtapose with such ease Beatlesque pop psychedelia ("I Saw The Light", "It Takes Two To Tango") with electronic experiments with a 'black' scent ("Breathless"), powerful rock divagations in sixties style ("Couldn't I Just Tell You") and fiery R'n'B ("Wolfman Jack") with colorful Latin interludes ("One More Day"). The blues peeks through where the most restless (and lazy) soul of the composer is revealed ("I Went To The Mirror"), but there's also room for sublime cabaret digressions ("The Night The Carousel Burnt Down") and dizzying slow songs ("Torch Song", "Cold Morning Light"). The soul ballads are extraordinary: "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference", "Sweeter Memories", "Hello It's Me", the superb "Dust In The Wind" alone would make the journey in a compositional tour de force capable, at the height of 1972, of making three quarters of his fellow musicians pale. But so much can—in a state of grace—the clarity of a mad mind. From the name it proudly bears, "Something/Anything?" is a monument to the possibility of making music without limits, a work that exudes daring and inventiveness from every pore, an ideal destination for any spirit that seeks its path to freedom in melodic creation.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 I Saw the Light (02:59)
It was late last night
I was feeling something wasn't right
There was not another soul in sight
Only you, only you
So we walked along
Though I knew that there was something wrong
And a feeling hit me, oh so strong
About you
Then you gazed up at me
And the answer was plain to see
'Cause I saw the light in your eyes
In your eyes
Though we had our fling
I just never would suspect a thing
'Til that little bell began to ring
In my head, in my head
But I tried to run
Though I knew it wouldn't help me none
'Cause I couldn't ever love no one
Or so I said
But my feelings for you
Were just something I never knew
'Til I saw the light in your eyes
In your eyes
But I love you best
It's not something that I say in jest
'Cause you're different, girl, from all the rest
In my eyes
And I ran out before
But I won't do it anymore
Can't you see the light in my eyes
In my eyes
In my eyes
In my eyes
02 It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference (03:50)
Do you remember the last time I said
If I ever thought of lying
I'd rather think of dying instead
And maybe you remember
The last time you called me
To say we were through
How it took a million tears
Just to prove they all were for you
But those days are through
'Cause it wouldn't have made any difference
If you loved me
How could you love me
When it wouldn't really make any difference
If you really loved me
You just didn't love me, 'cause
I know of hundreds of times I could be
In the most unfaithful arms
That you always picture me
And maybe you remember that
Though I can't always show proof I was true
No one else could change my mind
Or stop me coming home to you
But those days are through
'Cause it wouldn't have made any difference
If you loved me
How could you love me
When it wouldn't really make any difference
If you really loved me
You just didn't love me
Enough to believe me
Enough not to leave me
Enough not to look for a reason to be
Unhappy with me
And make me regret ever wanting you
But those days are through
'Cause it wouldn't have made any difference
If you loved me
How could you love me
When it wouldn't really make any difference
If you really loved me
You just did not love me
'Cause it wouldn't have made any difference
If you loved me
How could you love me
When it wouldn't really make any difference
If you really loved me
You just did not love me
03 Wolfman Jack (02:56)
"hey baby, you're on a subliminal trip to nowhere.you better get your trip
Together before you step
In here with us!"
Full moon tonight, everything's all right
Baby come on back to wolfman jack
If you want yourself a day man, well I don`t mind
You just ditch him when the sun goes down
'cause the moon shines bright
And everything's all right
When the wolfman, he creeps into town
Now you maybe want a man who throws round his money
But he ain't as cools a wolfman jack
And you might want yourself a man
Who don't act so funny
But he ain't your fool like wolfman jack
I don't mean to treat you evil
I'm just a good boy gone bad
But if I catch you after dark walking through the park
I'm just liable to do something mad
You maybe think you know what love is about girl
But it's nothing 'til it's wolfman jack
And everybody knows, you go round and shout it
That your only thrill is wolfman jack
Full moon tonight, everything's all right
Baby come on back to wolfman jack
I may miss your loving while I'm on my back
But you can't escape from wolfman jack
You can't do this to me
Look me in the eyes baby, now you cut that jive
You know the wolfman's just about
The number one cat alive
You got my great big eyes spinning round in my head
How could you love another man instead?
05 It Takes Two to Tango (This Is for the Girls) (02:41)
It's true, yes it's true
I'm as guilty of the sin as you
I lived through it too
And as you can see it didn't hurt me
You must admit, you helped a bit
It takes two to tango
You know I wasn't alone
It takes two to tango
I remember it still
Drink a toast if you will
This is for the girls who just couldn't see
That my only sin was being me
And this one's for the girls and they know who they are
It's so long ago and I don't know
Now I don't recall all the details of the scene at all
But I had a ball
And learned all the games, forgot all the names
You must admit you learned a bit
This is for the girls who couldn't understand
What it's like to try to be a man
And this one's for the girls and they know who they are
It's so long ago and I don't know
I don't claim to know at all
Who was right and who was wrong
I just don't remember all
All the things that were said
What went on in my head
But it's easy to see that I used you and you used me
This is for the girls who think I've done wrong
Could you really hold a grudge that long
And this one's for the girls and they know who they are
It's so long ago and I don't know who you are
06 Sweeter Memories (03:36)
There's a cloud in the sky and it's raining on you
Still you try to keep dry but your troubles leak through
And you've lost all you could, feeling sad
Choose your reveries
Keep the good, leave the bad
Take a few of these, the sweeter memories
Don't forget them please, the sweeter memories
To set your mind at ease, the truest remedies
Are the sweeter memories
There's a life full of pain and a life full of glee
So you see that the rain doesn't mean much to me
For I know that it pays making light
Of living's tragedies
Make your days be as bright
Take a few of these, the sweeter memories
09 Saving Grace (04:12)
I think I'm gonna love it
I think I'm gonna love it
Because I know someday someone else will see it my way
And then I'll know I was not wrong
I know they won't believe it
I know they won't believe it
They think that I'm no good
But I will make myself understood
'cause I believe it all along
I think I'm gonna love it
I know they won't believe it
When they finally see the saving grace in me
I know the time is gonna come
When I will mean something to someone
Until that day I'm hanging on
10 Marlene (03:54)
Marlene
Marlene, you're the prettiest girl I've ever seen
Do you care for me at all
Marlene, I care for you
And I just don't care who knows it
and I guess that means that I love you
Marlene
Marlene, who'd believe that you're only seventeen
I'm in trouble if your folks get mean
And if they do
Then I don't care if they bust me
and I guess that means that I love you
I don't need no fantasies
Just one thing I need
I you could make it here, Marlene
Dear Marlene, Marlene
Marlene, when I think that it all is just a dream
I remember that your eyes are green
And mine are blue
They will always see each other
and I guess that means that I love you
I don't need realities
Just one thing I need
If you could make it here Marlene
Dear Marlene, Marlene
Marlene, I'm depending on you now
Marlene
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